


Marshall Teller's Room Meta

by In Joke Taken (In_Joke_Taken)



Category: Eerie Indiana
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 10:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19810483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Joke_Taken/pseuds/In%20Joke%20Taken
Summary: bisexualcharliedavis made a post about Marshall's room, and I had thoughts.





	Marshall Teller's Room Meta

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [an itemized list of stuff in marshall’s room](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/498631) by bisexualcharliedavis. 



So I'm still thinking about this post days later, so I figured I would write down my thoughts. Behind the cut.

If your reading this on Not!tumblr, it’s in relation to this post: <https://bisexualcharliedavis.tumblr.com/post/186138752757/just-out-of-curiousity-i-decided-to-take-the-time> by @bisexualcharliedavis

The easiest explanation of basically everything is just a Doylist/our world explanation that the set designer cobbled to together something that had a look of being a teenagers room, but because this is the early 90s and thus before HD/4K/8K. They never expected people would be able to stop and take screen caps / a detailed look so verisimilitude was good enough

I'm firmly putting the lamps in this category and not messing with them because I find the set designers didn't realize how many lamps they put / deliberately put all those lamps to help with light the set is way, way more believable then "Grandma keeps buying me lamps and mom guilt me into having them out" the only in universe explanation I can think of. (Or Marshall has bad night vision, but that would have shown up in episode.) 

**The Trophies**

The trophies are interesting. I think it's way more likely that he's playing baseball then anything else. Soccer hadn't really caught on in the US yet when he would have been playing. It doesn't look like a hockey photo and while I'm sure Jersey has pee wee hockey its less of a thing then say Minnesota. Not football because I usually associate football (even at pee wee level) with kids who are actually athletic, and baseball with kids who's parents who pushed them into a sport to run off some energy. Also, Hockey and Football the kids would have more gear on in the photo.

So Baseball. 

But What's interesting is, those look like real trophies, not just participation trophies. Also late 80 / early 90 (depending on how young he was in when they were won) was still before the boom of every one get a trophy.

And if we were still in the house in Jersey I might wave it away as it got put up after he won (by him or enthusiastic parents) and he was to lazy to take them down. But with the move, he had to deliberately put them up again.

Proud of being on the team / winning, even if he doesn't (want) to play in more? Just more Jersey nostalgia? Something else?

**The Phone**

How big of a thing is it for Marshall to have his own phone? I think it depends on the set up. The handset would be a one time expense that wouldn’t have cost that much, it’s the separate phone line that would add up.

Most likely: The Tellers have one phone number, but multiple physical phones through out the house.  
2nd: The Tellers have two numbers, one household/family number and 1 for Marilyn’s party planning business.  
3rd: The Tellers have two. One for family, one for the kids (Which I can only see Syndi dominating) 

I can't see them having three lines. Not in the early 90's

Maybe his own handset in his room (without his own number) was his parents trying to pull him out of his Moving Funk gave him a handset but not a separate number so he could call his Jersey friends in peace/private? 

**The TV**

The TV is definitely more expensive, but the are ways to see it more cheaply. That model doesn't look that expensive. There are ones about that size for $90 now, and $100-150 is about the range I remember them being in the late 90s. An expensive gift, but not outrageous for a (upper?) middle class kid in the 90s.

_Where did the TV Come from_

1) Grandparent. It was a birthday / holiday gift from the grandparents; the Big Ticket item for that year. Or maybe a just because gift? (Marilyn: Ma please stop buying such expensive gifts Grandma: What?!?!? I have grand kids now, I get to spoil them.)  
2) Parents. Can't see it as a just because, but big ticket birthday still works.  
3) Marshall bough it himself. He does have a paper route and probably had a similar job back in Jersey. Doesn't really strike me as the type to bother to save up like that but...Eh.

The real (ongoing) expense is if it had a cable package. 

No Cable: He has just the basic Over-the-air channels in his room. 90s would still have Saturday morning cartoon, so maybe? Not sure I see the value in a TV in the room just to be super lazy on Saturday, but if it was a gift it might have been one he didn't really one and is just sitting there taking up space. (My mom did that with me, I would have just preferred the $100 in books.) More likely if it was a gift from a Grandparent set that only sees the grand kids a few times a year. Not sure what the individual kid would like and wanting to spoil could mean a generic expensive cool gift.

_Cable Package_  
I haven't had cable TV in about 15 years, and when i did have it i wasn't the one purchasing it so this is all vague recollection. Plus, its for California not Indiana which may have been completely different but two ways to have multiple TVS.

1) Multiple rooms, but the all play the same thing.

2) Multiple rooms, and they can be on different channels.

I vaguely remember multiple rooms, same signal either not costing anything extra or being a nominal fee for the second hook-up. Multiple rooms with their own signal was both more and a recurring expense. I don’t think that Marshall would have a separate signal. Both because I don’t think it would be a cost Marilyn and Edgar would be willing to pay and I don’t think they would be willing to set Marshall up for disappearing into his bedroom so readily. 

Thinking about it, it wouldn't shock me if Both Marshall and Syndi have both a phone and a TV for parity, but Syndi is who wanted the phone and Marshall is who wanted the TV. With neither having their own number or TV cable signal.

**Desk / Bookshelf**

Graphic novels weren't a big thing yet, even superhero/cap comics were hit or miss on getting trade paperbacks (TPB), and they are a little to thick / not the right size, so it's unlikely that any of the books are graphic novels. But Middle grade readers / YA novels would have spines like that, especially series. Marshall doesn’t seem to have a ton of books, but there’s enough their to suggest like a specific genre enough to seek out reading it for pleasure. 

**Last Thoughts**

Also, what is up with the chocolate syrup bottle next to his bed. I really hope he was one of those weirdo's who used them as water bottle to weird people out instead of you know...drinking straight chocolate syrup in bed.

Cross posted, because I wrote over a thousand words and I’m not letting that get lost into the tumblr aether.

Dreamwidth: <https://in-joke-taken.dreamwidth.org/20792.html>

AO3: <https://archiveofourown.org/works/19810483>

Tumblr: [https://injoketaken.tumblr.com/post/186291596372/](https://injoketaken.tumblr.com/post/186291596372)


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